Agent Orange Lawsuit

The use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War has been controversial. The extremely toxic herbicide was widely used, affecting an extremely high number of people, as well as the environment. The June 9, 2003 Supreme Court vote has brought at least the possibility of justice for many Vietnam veterans that have felt like their duty to this country was then disregarded when diagnoses of life-threatening illnesses were given because of the Agent Orange exposure and they were given little, if any compensation.

A Vietnam veteran Mr. Kerry thinks that the message from the Agent Orange situation has been, ‘Do your duty to your country, but your country won’t fulfill its duty to you if you’re lucky enough to return home,’ (HometownAnnapolis.Com, 5/25/03). Senator John Kerry believed the treatment of the Vietnam veterans is “troubling”, but the legal “loophole” will not allow for the possibility of new Agent Orange lawsuits from being pursued.

The Dow Chemical Co. v. Stephenson case divided the Supreme Court 4-4 after the decision for the ninth justice, Justice John Paul Stevens to sit out and allowing the rare tie situation to occur. While Justice Stevens did not give a reason for sitting out of the Agent Orange case, Steven’s son was a Vietnam veteran that died of cancer in 1996. Vietnam veteran Daniel Stephenson did not learn that he had a deadly form of cancer until 1998.

Stephenson was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called multiple myeloma, but by then the 1985 Agent Orange class action lawsuit settlement money no longer existed. Stephenson was never even aware of the settlement at the time, which many other Vietnam veterans have stated being uniformed about it as well over the years. Due to the circumstances, Stephenson, as well as many other Vietnam veterans, were not adequately represented in the Agent Orange class action lawsuit settlement.

Even though the Vietnam War ended decades ago, the illnesses associated to Agent Orange can take 20-30 years to develop. The Agent Orange class action lawsuit settlement only allowed payment to the members able to demonstrate “total disability” for each year between 1971-1995. By 1994, just 50,000 members of the 2.4 million exposed received money from the $180 million fund. Funds depleted, the Vietnam veterans unaware of the Agent Orange class action lawsuit settlement, as well as those people that had not yet developed Agent Orange related illnesses received nothing.

When the Supreme Court voted and tied, laws state that the ruling from the previous court that considered the case then takes effect. This “loophole” has opened the door for a potentially high number of Agent Orange lawsuits to be filed against Agent Orange manufacturers. The Agent Orange class action lawsuit settlement included Dow, Monsanto, Diamond Shamrock Corporation, Hercules Inc., Uniroyal inc., T-H Agricultural & Nutrition Company, and Thompson Chemical Corporation and now the companies have become opened up to legal battles.

The bad news for the companies has resulted in ads taken in local and national newspapers and magazines in attempts to reach Vietnam veterans. Considered “a breakthrough in justice” by the US Veterans’ Administration, Agent Orange lawsuits that have been considered long overdue by many can be pursued.

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced in 2003 that the link to chronic lymphocytic leukemia to Agent Orange exposed Vietnam veterans is so strong that benefits would automatically be given to any new diagnoses of it. There are as many as 1,000 new patients for chronic lymphocytic leukemia alone expected amongst Vietnam veterans. Recently, the April 2003 study performed by Columbia University that sought to re-examine military records of the Vietnam War found that about 21 million gallons of herbicides were sprayed from 1961-1971, adding up to 1.84 million gallons.

This figure was 10% greater than previously believed, and over half of the herbicides sprayed were Agent Orange. Deadly illnesses associated to Agent Orange was not acknowledged by the Pentagon until years after Vietnam veterans were exposed to the dangerous herbicide.

Please contact us to confer with an Agent Orange attorney.